One More Strike
by A-ccentric
Summary: Two outs. Last pitch to close the inning. Just one more! One more pitch that goes drastically wrong. When Eijun goes down on a hazard ball, and is rushed to hospital, the team begin unraveling at the seams as his condition takes a turn for the worst. When secrets come to light, and the pain becomes too much to bare, will they all be able to survive? Or will there be some missing?
1. Two Outs

**My first new story in a while and it's a new genre fanfiction! I've always loved Ace of Diamonds and when trying to draw the doujinshi version of this didn't go so well, I decided I'd write it down. I've been working on it for a year now, but there's no better way to start off 2016. Enjoy!**

* * *

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget

Chapter 1:Two Outs

 **SAWAMURA**

"ONE OUT!" The crowd roared over and over, the floor vibrating with their cheers and noise.

Sawamura stared down the long channel to his opponent, eyes sharp. The man was a big guy, tough-looking, but had missed every one of his fastball pitches. He could hit his crossfire and his outside corner. He was the last one left.

Miyuki's eyes caught his, a faint smile on his lips as he crouched to the inside. Miyuki wasn't one to be over confident on the field, and just that inkling of a smile made Sawamura's own confidence sky rocket. "ONE OUTS!" He yelled, allowing the crowd to give a thundering response. The energy raced through the stadium and straight into him. Nothing could break the way he was feeling.

At the hush of the crowd, Sawamura rose on his leg, the ball buried in his glove.

The coach's words came back to him:

" _Sawamura!" The Coach yelled just as the team was leaving the dugout. Sawamura turned and blinked. Coach held his palm outspread, five digits in line with his palm. 'That's how many pitches you get.' He said._

 _Sawamura stared at him, a grin pulling on his face. Nori-san had pitched the first two, and now they were on the seventh inning. Furuya was still on his one inning injury limit and would pitch the last and close the game. It was Sawamura's duty to make sure to pass on that baton. He wouldn't let him down._

 _'Yes, Boss!' Sawamura saluted and stormed onto the mound with a roaring heart as the responsibility sat on his shoulders._

Back on the mound, facing down the batter, stood so close to the batting box and grinning into stupor, Sawamura felt a tremor through his shoulders, reminding himself of that weight. There were two people on base. He would _not_ let anyone score. He was going for a strike out and he would follow his first strike through.

His feelings rose in his chest and Sawamura felt his familiar mantra run through his head. His body began to move, the momentum building in his core as his body began to turn and his speed began to raise, his foot slamming against the dirt of the mound, his body twisting like a releasing coil, his arm coming like a whip over his shoulder, the ball leaving his fingertips.

The ball rushed through the air at his fastest speed yet, the batter smirked and swung but he swung too high, still unable to adjust to Sawamura's fastball. But at the same time, his bat wasn't high enough as it clipped the corner, the wood echoing with a solid crack at the force of the batter's swing, the ball ricocheting off the bat, flying straight north. Straight back towards the mound.

Sawamura's body pulled back just to see a flash of white before everything went dark.

 **MIYUKI**

Sound became silence, everything went still and every person stared as Miyuki watched his pitcher crumble to the ground. The ball rolled towards the third base but nobody moved. Nobody dared. It felt as if ice water was doused over his head as he stared wide-eyed at the mute, unmoving uniform laid over the mound. Miyuki was sure his heart had stopped, sure his brain wouldn't work. Shock consumed him from head to toe, attacking every sense with a dull numbness that allowed the panic in his veins to surge undetected. It didn't remain that way for long.

"SAWAMURA!" Kuramochi roared, his body tearing across the field faster than light as he rushed straight towards him.

Miyuki found himself running before he even realised it. He shoved the batter aside, not wasting precious time going around him as his brain jerked to life. The last few seconds rushed through his mind on repeat.

He knew the trajectory of that ball the second it hit the bat, saw it in slow motion as it spun through the air and cracked against Sawamura's skull. Now it laid beside him, the main object in the game ignored.

Miyuki heard various shouts and whistles being blown around him but he didn't listen as he rushed to the pitcher's mound. He felt the presence of the Coach race up beside him as he skidded to a stop. Kuramochi leaned over Sawamura, and Haruichi hovering near.

"I'm fine." Sawamura grumbled in that annoying whiny voice and a huge relief hit Miyuki like a tidal wave.

Kuramochi leaned back on the balls of his feet, revealing Sawamura's brown eyes staring up at him. He blinked over and over, his eyes dilated slightly. Kuramochi frowned but as Miyuki saw the relief trickle into the short stop's face, his frown faded.

"MIYUKI!"

Miyuki spun at a loud roaring shout. He turned to the benches and saw all the seniors pressed against the bars their faces full of concern, question burning in their eyes.

"I'M FINE BEARD-SENPAI!" Sawamura answered back, waving his hand over his head, his body swaying with it.

Even from a distance, you could see his shoulders droop in relief. "STUPID SAWAMURA!" Jun yelled making Sawamura grumble.

Komachi helped Sawamura up from his ass and let him dust himself off. He looked up at his team mates in a circle around him, some watching him critically, others just plain staring. "You're okay?" Miyuki asked, looking at his pitcher.

Sawamura was eyeing his hat on the ground and after a minute hesitation, he reached down and picked it up in a smooth, slow motion before sitting it on his head. His trade-mark stupid grin came out on his face as the battery pair faced each other. "I'm A-okay!" Sawamura gave him a thumbs up before passing the same gesture to the rest of his team mates.

His teammates stood back a step in relief, allowing themselves to come out of the tension that had tied tight around them as soon as that ball had started its path.

Miyuki, however, didn't feel the same effects. That cord around his emotions loosened, but it wasn't completely gone. Miyuki felt his heart brush the edges of it, each beat reminding himself it was still there, restraining him from the full relief.

But why? Eijun was fine so why was he still concerned? It wouldn't be like him to hide an injury. He was trained by Chris-senpai for Christ's sake; he wouldn't lie; he knew not to. So what was that nagging feeling at the back of his mind?

"I didn't know you were so concerned about me, Miyuki?" Sawamura grinned, pulling Miyuki out of his thoughts with that stupid smug smile on his face.

Miyuki scowled, irritated by the mocking of his concern. "You're right." Miyuki grinned. "I was worried the ball may have knocked some smarts into you. Apparently not." With that, the catcher turned and walked away, leaving Sawamura to mumble his retorts in vain.

Half-way back, he overheard the coach debating whether or not to pull Sawamura back to the dug-out, and of course, Sawamura's protests were loud and clear. "There's only one pitch left!"

"I'll do it." Furuya clipped in, explaining the heightening of Eijun's next words.

"You're _injured._ " Sawamura retorted, the smugness in his voice crystal clear. "Coach, I'm fine! The ball just grazed me and I fell dodging it. I was all swoosh and woosh" -whatever that meant- "like a ninja. See? I'm perfectly fine. I can pitch." Miyuki imagined Sawamura holding the Coach's gaze and when he heard the next sigh, he knew Sawamura had convinced him.

The coach didn't say anything else and stalked past Miyuki up to the umpire and began talking. Miyuki settled himself back behind the batting plate and crouched.

The umpire blew his whistle, calling the ball out as a foul, racking up the strike count to two outs. Only one more pitch and this inning was over.

 _Only one more._

Miyuki didn't understand where his anxiety was coming from. He wanted this inning over and he wanted it over _now._

Unfortunately, life didn't work that way and Miyuki heard a second whistle blown.

 **SAWAMURA**

 _One more._

His entire being was held up by that single thread of thought. Even as the pain at the side of his skull roared loud inside his mind. A constant ringing bounced back and forth through his skull. The red hot waves of throbbing not only affected his head, but rippled all across his entire body. His knees wanted to give out, his arms to fall, his back to collapse. Everything in him wanted to give up _._

 _One more strike._

Who knows? Maybe Sawamura really was as simple minded as everyone made out. He sure as hell had to have been as stubborn as everyone made him out to be. There was no other explanation for how he was able to stand.

But maybe it wasn't the only thing, because as he stood on the mound; the very _centre_ of every baseball game, the _beginning_ of every inning, the _end_ of every run; he felt a surge of power. That energy of the pitcher inside of him drawing strength from the ground beneath his feet, from his purpose. He was pitcher. He had a job to do.

The Coach's words flashed through his head again. He wouldn't let them down.

 _Just. One. More. Strike._

Sawamura didn't know how long he had been standing still, but a sense of silence overcame everything. His hand squeezed the ball beneath his fingers, his chin rising. He looked down the barrel of the batter, saw his eyes darken, his hands squeeze. Then he looked past, at the faint blur of Miyuki holding his unwavering glove on the inside. Fastball.

Clarity took hold of Sawamura's conciousness with the last inch of fight he had in him.

His leg rose high, his body coiling, arm winding back in his glove. He looked straight.

He fired.

He didn't remember moving, but he felt the brush of the ball leave his fingertips and the echoing sound of the catcher's glove.

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!"

 **MIYUKI**

The whistle blew and Miyuki's heart throbbed. That lasso of tension around his heart loosened that little bit more.

 _He can still pitch._

Miyuki sighed, shaking his head. A smirk played on his lips as he looked into the ball in his glove, that tingling of force echoing even deeper into his skin. Every bit of force was thrown into that ball, and now the team reaped the fruits.

"SAWAMURA! SAWAMURA!" The crowd yelled and whistled and hooted in cheer. Everyone from the field came running to the pitchers mound, tossing Eijun into hug after hug. They slapped his back, ruffled the top of his hat and plain hugged him as they began to change over at the second sound of the whistle.

It wasn't normal for everyone to be so excited about Sawamura closing the inning. He had shut out several innings in the past. But perhaps, it was just the left over tension from earlier.

Miyuki felt his heart do that little scrape of those wires constricting the muscle and stuttered in his walk to join the fielders heading to the dug out. He shook it off.

Sawamura's back came into vision as he jogged towards the dug out. The fielders behind him passed him easily with slaps on the back and shouted praise as they put distance between them.

Miyuki patted his shoulder as he passed.

Sawamura held his head down, his hands tight in a ball as he jogged. No doubt keeping the excitement in only to shout his head off as soon as they got to the dug out. Then again, he had been rather quiet since that hazard ball.

A murmur caught Miyuki's attention. When he realised it was from Sawamura, he hesitated to catch up with the rest of the team. His head turned over his shoulder, eyes staring at his pitcher's shadowed face. "Sawamura?"

"Sorry." He whispered.

"Sorry?" Miyuki's heart did that little jump in his chest, the lasso tightening. "Eijun?"

"I wanted..." His jog dropped down into a walk, as the whole world disappeared into white noise. Miyuki's head did a quick check to the dug out. He saw the Coach stood stiff as a board, his eyes locked on Sawamura. "to pitch...some more."

The Coach's eyes widen as he stormed one step from the dug out. Miyuki whipped around and froze.

Sawamura dropped to his knees. "Sor..." He didn't finish as his body fell forwards onto the grass.

He didn't move.

Miyuki felt that lasso force his heart to stop as he just stared at his unmoving figure. The whole stadium seemed to fall with silence just like before.

Except this time was far worse.

"SAWAMURA!"


	2. Batter Out!

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget

Chapter 2: Batter Out!

 **NARRATOR**

Beeping echoed somewhere down the hall. Clinical spirits and latex hung in the air. Voices whispering and footsteps on the lament floor moved around as background chatter. A window was open and the curtains billowed on the opposing wall.

Chris stood next to the window, the curtains ignored as his eyes stared at the closed hospital room door.

Miyuki sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs lined up along the corridor, his elbows on his knees, hands clutched tight together, his head hanging from his shoulders.

Next to him, Kuramochi's eyes were glued to the ceiling. His neck craned back against the hard chairs, fingers curled around the seat until his knuckles went white.

None of them said a thing, leaving an unbreakable silence suffocating the air.

They had been waiting.

Were still waiting.

Would keep waiting.

...

 **MIYUKI**

 _Five hours earlier..._

"SAWAMURA!" The Coach yelled.

The whole stadium burst into uproar as the team dove around his limp body.

Miyuki dropped to his knees, grasping the hat to move it out the way, feeling the slick damp sweat absorbed into the rims. He dropped it out the way only to reach back for Sawamura and freeze.

His hand jerked towards his face and his eyes followed it. Stiffness overtook him as could only allow for the one slow motion turn towards the hat discarded on the ground. He heard the team's worried voices and the booming crowd fade out into background static as he stared down at the blue fabric. He looked at his hand, his wet fingers and back down at the hat.

Replays covered his thoughts. The ball hitting the bat, bouncing off Sawamura's skull, his body collapsed on the mound...so still. Unconscious. Then Sawamura's face flickering for a moment, his smiling face waving off everybody's concern. Then the ball hitting him again.

The ball bounced off Sawamura's head again and again and again. And Miyuki watched it happen.

He was jerked from his thoughts as a rough hand caught his shoulder and pulled him back to his feet, the force harsh enough to make him stumble before catching himself. He saw the two medics jump in with loud shouts of distress from the team coming back into clarity.

Miyuki turned towards the hand still tight on his shoulder. "Chris-senpai?"

Chris's eyes were stuck on the hat in Miyuki's hands. He didn't remember picking it up, not that it mattered. Chris's eyes were wide on the darkened rim, on the red colour of Miyuki's fingers. On the blood. Sawamura's blood.

"Miyuki." Chris breathed, his voice a strangled sound.

Chris pried the hat from Miyuki's fingers, calling over his shoulder to the Coach. His eyes looked down at the cap before taking it, turning back to the medics.

They had Sawamura laid on his back now, his body being lifted onto a stretcher, an oxygen mask placed over his face. One of them picked up a small torch, flicking the light back and forth across his pried open eyes, calling his name over and over again.

Miyuki also noticed Kuramochi stood still, his eyes unmoving from Sawamura. Everybody was watching with concern, but Kuramochi's stare was shell shocked.

Ryosuke stood in front of him, trying to attract his attention. He followed Kuramochi's gaze to Sawamura and frowned. All the seniors integrated into the team crowd, working more on keeping the young ones back for space.

"Miyuki." Chris-senpai said, drawing back his attention. He saw Chris's absolute focus on his face as he spoke. His eyes flashed over his shoulder to the Coach before turning back to Miyuki. "Coach is going to go with Sawamura to the hospital. We're going to go with him."

Miyuki nodded enough for Chris to get the message. He nodded back, leaving Miyuki and walking over to Yuuki-senpai, talking about returning the rest of the team back to school.

But Miyuki wasn't listening. Not to them.

"You weren't suppose to hit him that hard!" A voice whispered loud enough to be heard. Miyuki's body stiffened, his eyes adjusting to catch the batter and team mate pair speaking. The opponent's team gathered on the pitch to see what was happening, but not close enough to interfere.

The batter shrugged, a smug smile on his face as he swung the bat over his shoulder. "He wasn't supposed to be able to get back up the first time."

Miyuki felt as if his whole body had gone numb. He didn't know he was moving towards them until he was already half way there.

He had replayed that moment over and over in his head enough to know that the straight liner to Sawamura wasn't an accident. He saw it up close; the purposeful change in stance, the way his body lowered and the swing of his arms. Sawamura was his target and he'd hit it straight on. What he just said confirmed it.

"You bastard!" Miyuki roared, his hand launching up around the batter's collar and dragging him forwards. Having not noticed Miyuki's approach, he stumbled at the sudden yank, his face dropping to Miyuki's. "You did this on purpose!"

His team mate scattered backwards, running to alert their captain a few feet away.

Miyuki couldn't care less.

The batter's smug smile disappeared. His eyes narrowed, lips forced into a flat line. "You've got no proof."

He was right. There was no way to prove he did it on purpose. It could be passed off as a lousy swing, an accident. He would be innocent.

Miyuki's teeth cracked. "You listen to me, you monster. Everybody knows how dirty your team is. They may not have any evidence now, but they'll get it someday. Then you'll be exposed for the cheater you are and never be allowed to play baseball again." He growled. "I'll make sure of it."

He shoved at the batter and watched as he staggered back, his eyes flickering to his friend speaking rapid words with his coach. He breathed a sigh of relief as Miyuki turned.

"I'll hit harder next time." The batter grumbled under his breath.

Miyuki stopped. A red film descended over his eyes.

Before he knew it, the smack of skin on skin echoed throughout the stadium. "MIYUKI!" Chris yelled so loud Miyuki was forced from his daze. His anger stuttered long enough for him to notice his fist buried into Chris's hand.

He looked between Chris's eyes, a burning green fury, and his clenched fist. "I-"

Chris glared hard at Miyuki as he released his fist, letting it fall to his side. "We're leaving."

Miyuki only just noticed the silence, save for the sound of sirens beginning to fade away. He looked up to find the entire crowd on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the exchange. He noticed Yuuki and Jun stood behind him, their bodies ready to spring on him at the slightest movement.

He hadn't remembered moving, but whatever they saw or where about to see made them jump up to grab him. His eyes travelled back to the batter, eyes wide at Miyuki, frozen in place.

He straightened as he caught Miyuki's gaze and smirked. Just like that, Miyuki could see the ripples of red on the outside of his vision all over again.

"Miyuki." Chris snapped, leaving no more room for argument. Miyuki glared hard at the batter- a promise he'd do his best not to forget. The batter turned white as a sheet as Miyuki used all his will to turn and walk away.

Yuuki and Jun stepped aside as they let him through.

"You're all just talk."

Miyuki spun and found himself stopped still.

Chris whirled on the batter, his feet closing the distance in seconds as he tried to scramble back. The batter stumbled, tripped and landed at his Coach's shoes. Chris loomed above him, his eyes hidden from view. The batter yelped and scrambled until his back was pressed against his Coach's legs, blubbering apologies like a child.

Chris lifted his head, meeting the eyes of their team's coach. The coach stiffened, his eyes unable to look away. Chris said something so soft they couldn't heard it. The Coach nodded. With one last look at the batter responsible, he turned away.

He stormed passed Jun and Yuuki, grabbing Miyuki by the collar and heading back for the exit.

Yuuki and Jun jogged up behind him as Miyuki managed to unravel himself from Chris's grasp to walk on his own. Miyuki could feel the tangible rage rippling him off him. If he had thought his own anger was frightening...he could only dread the wrath of Chris-senpai.

"Chris-senpai." A voice caused Chris to stop. He looked over his shoulder, pinning the voice to Kuramochi. He hadn't moved a single inch since Sawamura had collapsed.

"What is it?" Chris asked, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"I'm coming too."

Chris stared at Kuramochi long and hard. Of course the others had probably volunteered to go too, but Coach wouldn't have let them all go. You can't pack an entire baseball team into a hospital corridor after all. Miyuki expected him to say no.

Chris nodded, turned and continued walking towards the exit.

Kuramochi moved, turning to follow like a machine with Miyuki at his flank.

The rest of the team was sent back to school with the seniors.

Sent to wait for the news hanging Sawamura's fate in the balance.

To wait, wondering what was going to happen now and not allowing them to wonder what will happen next.

Just like them.

…

 **NARRATOR**

 _A few hours later..._

The door latch clicked.

Chris stood straight before the door even began to move. A wave of tension rippled through the corridor as the coach came from the room.

Miyuki and Kuramochi shot from their seats like a gun. They stood stiff beside Chris, their muscles bounded in tight knots as they stared at the Coach's mask. He gave away nothing.

"How is he?" Chris asked, eyes scanning the Coach's face. His eyes flickered back to the wooden door but even through the small window pane, a curtain still divided his sight and Sawamura.

"Sit down." The Coach ordered. His voice had lost that sharp edge, instead it was every bit as grave as the players felt. They did as they were told, and waited for the coach to begin.

It took a moment as he looked at each of his players, but then he began to speak.

By the time the Coach stopped speaking, the players had nothing left to say.

They could only wallow in their devastation as they let the words take hold.

They tried waiting for that grip of pain around their hearts to pass.

It never did.

…

 **NARRATOR**

Back at Seidou High dormitories, every single member of the club was packed into the mess hall, all waiting for news on Sawamura. Miyuki, Chris and Kuramochi all left without their bags, which held their phones, ruling out any kind of SMS pestering.

Instead, they were all left to stir back at the club house. Even the third years had stayed behind. But how could any of them bring themselves to leave? They all knew Sawamura, and as far as anyone else was concerned, were still apart of the team. So they waited with them, listening to the occasional whispers travelling round the room;

"Sawamura is hard headed, he'll be fine."

"It takes more than that to keep that idiot down."

"His head will grow even bigger if anyone finds out we're worried about him."

But even in the whispers, they couldn't hide their nervous tremors.

Still, the reassurances jumped around the room, people too afraid to talk grim as if it might happen if they mentioned it. Everybody knew that damage to the head could mean anything. Everybody saw the blood. Everybody knew.

Furuya and Haruichi hung in the corner alongside their other first year players, devoid of comforting whispers and mutterings. They just sat there with their hands clasped together, lips tight -waiting. Even Furuya of all people looked more stoic than usual.

The door opened and a few turned to look up, others kept their gaze on the table. Half of them thought it was just someone returning from the toilet until the electricity shot through the air. People began to jump out of their seats, shouting questions and concerns as Chris-senpai walked through the door. Miyuki and Kuramochi walked in silence behind him, their heads hanging low.

As everyone took in their captain and vice-captain, they fell quiet. Grave, denying, and fearful expressions took place upon the team's faces as they took their seats again.

Chris felt everybody's eyes on him as he opened his mouth and began to repeat the words he had been order to do. The very same words the Coach had spoken to him.

…

 **CHRIS**

 _Two hours earlier..._

Chris sat back in the hard hospital chair, his body wound so tight he feared he'd snap a tendon as he looked up at his Coach. He felt that churn of anxiety roll in his stomach. He'd been in this situation before, but never from this perspective. Being told someone was injured and the extent of that injury... he couldn't tell which one was worse.

He looked to his side to see Kuramochi and Miyuki both with their heads down and hands tight. The way they were curled was almost as if they were bracing to be hit. Chris hated the sight, but found it hypocritical as he looked down at his own clamped hands.

"The trauma to Sawamura's head is severe." The Coach began, watching as each of the boys' bodies became more taunt. "With both the hit from the ball and from when he fell, he sustained superficial injuries to his head."

He checked them all again before continuing. "They've ran test and say his brain function seems to be okay." Each of them gave a shuddering breath of relief. "They've taken him off the sedatives now, but it could take up to a few days for them to wear off. They'll know more when he wakes up."

The Coach seemed to stop, adjusting his hat, and at last, Chris had thought it was over. It wasn't.

"Then they can figure out the extent of the damage."

Chris felt his mind come to a cease.

"Damage?" Miyuki repeated next to him. He lifted his head to stare at the coach, eyebrows furred. "But you said they ran tests and his brain function was fine?"

"It is." He agreed, looking back up through the window. "But Sawamura also has a grade two concussion. There could be some damage we can't see until he wakes up."

"So all we can do is wait?"

"Yes."

And so, they waited.


	3. Fly Ball

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 3: Fly Ball

 **MIYUKI**

 _Present..._

Miyuki crouched low to the ground, stretching his legs and absorbing the morning's chilling breeze. He retied his shoelaces for the third time, his mind just a numbing buzz from far away.

They had been sent back almost immediately after the Coach had talked to them. Sawamura's parents would arrive soon but until then Coach was obligated to stay by Sawamura's side.

They weren't allowed to see him, by the Coach's rules not the hospital, and were told to go back and keep up normal routines. _'You can train hard and wait at the same time'_ He'd said. Maybe he was fed up of them going stir crazy waiting up all night in that room. Still, everyone was exhausted, no doubt kept up with worry only to fall asleep when the fatigue from the game and everything else that happened caught up to them.

Despite the game, Miyuki found he hadn't slept at all. His body was heavy and sluggish and he couldn't find that old eager need to train. He wasn't the only one.

"I can't seem to find the heart to train like normal." Shinji groaned, swinging his bat half-heartedly through the air. "Not while Sawamura's in the hospital in God knows what condition."

"It's too quiet without him." Nori added, looking out at the dawning sky. He rolled a ball once between his fingertips before dropping it back in the box with a sigh.

Haruichi looked downcast as he stared out at the empty pitch.

"There's nothing we can do." Miyuki said. "So instead of wasting time sitting around and letting our bodies get complacent, the most we can do is train." But even his voice sounded dull and empty.

"Yeah, I suppose." Shinji sighed. "Still..."

"Hey look." Hideaki called, pointing over to the far field. A figure could be seen running laps around the field and it didn't take two guesses to figure out who it was.

"I can't believe Furuya's already up and training." Shinji uttered. "How heartless."

"OI!" A voice bellowed so loud the entire team leapt from their skins. They all whipped around to see a group coming up the path towards them.

Jun's eyes blazed with frustration as he came to a stop before them all – a towering, angry figure. "Are you guys _trying_ to make me mad?"

"No- I- We-" Someone stuttered.

"Listen." He snapped and everyone came to attention. "You all better work hard or Sawamura will be mad when he wakes up and he'll overtake you all. You have a chance to get ahead. Use it!"

"Yes, sir!" They all responded.

"Good." Jun gleamed, his eyes glistening with promises. "You get to train with us third years today." His grin couldn't be taken as anything other than menacing.

Everybody gulped.

"NOW GET RUNNING!"

With startled yelps, they all practically tripped over each other racing down onto the field.

Miyuki watched them run away and before he got chance to argue a foot hit him hard in the back. "You too, Miyuki!" Jun yelled with another kick, pushing and pushing until Miyuki gave up arguing and moved into a half-hearted jog.

Jun and the third years went running after them as chant began to bellow through the air.

...

 **CHRIS**

Yuuki remained on the path as Chris strolled up to him from the side. "Kuramochi?" Yuuki asked, not taking his eyes of the running group.

Both of their eyes settled on Miyuki. Jun was immediately behind him, pushing the catcher to run without restraint.

Kuramochi hadn't turned up for practice and hadn't been found in his room after Chris had purposefully collected Miyuki from his.

Miyuki had still been wearing his uniform from yesterday. It was obvious he hadn't slept the night before. He was frazzled and was holding onto a mental tether at best, acting on auto-pilot the rest of the day. Even Jun was trying his best to wake him up.

"I've sent Ryosuke to go find him."

Yuuki nodded as he watched Jun force the group to speed up into a hellish sprint for training.

"We'd best join in too before-"

"YUUKI GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Jun yelled, swinging a bat around at high speed.

"Like I said."

…

 **RYOSUKE**

Ryo wandered back through the dormitories. He'd checked Kuramochi's room for the third time but he hadn't returned. His bed was still in the rumpled mess he'd probably left it in the morning before and yet, Sawamura's -who was equally as messy- was made without a single crease.

He passed by the vending machine and the indoor gym and sighed. No one there. He wondered if maybe one of the other third years had caught a hold of him.

Jun was no doubt probably trying to keep their minds off it, keep them focused. They couldn't stay shut up in the club rooms all day, festering until they couldn't take it anymore.

God knows they were the support posts for the fragile second and first years. They looked so lost and with their Captain, Vice-captain and Coach busy dealing with the aftermath, the team had to fend for themselves.

So the third years stepped in.

And now it was Ryo's job to find Kuramochi. Miyuki had barely had a chance to escape from his room where he had spent the night brooding. On the other hand, Kuramochi seemed as if he had only returned to his room for a few minutes at most before he'd dissappeared.

Ryo finished his second round around the dormitories and found himself heading into school grounds. Many of the students had heard what had happened and many had offered support. Teachers had allowed the students to stay out of the lessons for the next few days until Sawamura woke up.

Kuramochi never liked going into school when it kept him from baseball. He couldn't sit still. But maybe...

Well, it couldn't hurt to try.

Ryo was barely up the first flight of the stairs to the second years' floor when loud shouts boomed down the hall.

Ryo raced up the stairs and found himself skidding to a halt in front of 2-B.

Kuramochi's hand was tight around the collar of another student, his face pulled close to his, eyes dark, teeth bared. "Don't. You. Dare." Kuramochi growled, his chest rising and falling in deep heavy pants. "Speak. That. Way. About. Him."

The young teacher at the front of the class looked on in fear, her own body pinned to the black board. Nobody in the class dare moved, their eyes wide with shock. Ryo could see that hidden dark side of the old Kuramochi sinking through.

"It was only a joke. Don't take it seriously." The other student replied, his arms raised in surrender as his eyes never moved from Kuramochi's face. They flickered for a second to where Ryo stood with a silent plea to help but the pink-haired third year didn't move.

"A joke?" Kuramochi's voice dropped into a low, dark chuckle. "A joke?" He shook his head with pity. His chin rose ever so slowly as his eyes peered from their darkness. Anger burned deep into the other kid's soul as a strangled squeak left his lips. "I'm not laughing."

His hand shoved the kid back with enough force to make him fall. He landed with a yelp, his eyes jerking back up to see the bottom of Kuramochi's shoe high above his face. "No! Please, no!" The kid pleaded, but it was too late.

Kuramochi's foot struck forwards and the class screamed in unison.

"No... No...please!" The kid continued to whimper, his body shaking with terror. He braced and waited but when no impact came, he dared to look up.

A chair bounced off the furthest wall, tipping and scattering across the floor. The whole row of table and chairs were knocked back into a broken pile on the other side of the classroom.

Kuramochi's foot racked with tremors as he lowered it back to the ground. He didn't look at the kid as he turned and walked from the classroom.

Ryo moved to let him pass, looking back over at the white-faced students watching him go. The three chairs and tables in a pile at the back of the classroom were broken.

Ryo turned to the teacher. "Kuramochi's not feeling well. I'll take him to the nurse's office."

He looked back at the sobbing student on the floor, a puddle soaking under his trousers. He didn't say anything more as he turned and walked after his friend.

They made it to the nurses office where Kuramochi just stood in the centre of the room, looking at everything and nothing at once.

"Sit." Ryo ordered, noticing the nurse was gone.

Kuramochi did as he was told without complaint as Ryo brought over a stool and an ice pack. He pulled up Kuramochi's trouser leg and foot, examining the purpling bruise around his ankle.

"Idiot." Ryo spoke, pressing the ice pack against his leg. "You've got the fastest legs. Don't hurt them by yourself, stupid."

"You called me stupid twice."

"Because you're stupid, stupid."

Kuramochi went silent for a long while. Ryo propped up Kuramochi's leg and reached for his phone. He sent a quick message to Yuuki saying he'd found him.

"I was the first one to him." Kuramochi whispered. Ryo put his phone away and turned.

A dark shadow loomed over Kuramochi's face. "I knew he was lying. He was so still. He'd been knocked unconscious and I'd just ignored it!" His voice rose but Ryo didn't scold him. "I convinced myself it was just a trick of my eyes! I pretended it didn't happen! And yet I knew and now..."

Kuramochi fell silent again.

Ryo gave a soft sigh as he retook the stool beside him. "By that point the damage was done. Him continuing to play on was just him being stupid." He said. "If an idiot like you takes responsibility for an idiot like him then we're all done for."

"You know that's not exactly reassuring." Kuramochi scoffed.

"It wasn't supposed to be." Ryo said. "I was just telling the truth."

"Ryo..." Kuramochi began.

"If you try to hug me I'll cut off your toes."

"But you just said I shouldn't hurt my legs."

"I'll only cut off the ones that don't count."

Kuramochi stared at his defence partner, wondering if he was really safe. He jumped when Ryo next spoke.

"You cleaned up his things." Ryo said, following his friend's movement to gaze out the open window. A blue sky was lit with sunlight, no clouds in sight.

"Yeah." Kuramochi shrugged. "Figured he might need them when he comes back."

Ryo looked up to catch the certain glint he'd been waiting to find, appearing in his friend's eyes. He didn't smile.

"By the way," Ryo said, recapturing his attention. His fingers clicked away on his keypad, eyes on his phone screen. "I'm telling Chris you hurt yourself on purpose."

"No!"

…

 **CHRIS**

Silence was eerie in the dead of night at the dormitories. Even with all the third years crashing back into their old dorm rooms, the loud mouths - _Cough,_ Jun - couldn't seem to bring life back to the place. Then again, there were barely- if not any- of the team members having even retired back to their rooms.

Chris could still see the flood lights beaming down on the pitch from the dormitories. Practice was long since over, but the team was full of hard-headed baseball junkies that didn't much care for a sense of time. Still, he could trust Jun to make sure they didn't push themselves too far- If Jun didn't already wear them out first.

There was a reason Chris was walking across the campus instead of working with the rest of the team. It seemed one baseball junkie hadn't made it to the party. One Chris couldn't hide his growing concern for.

Miyuki.

He'd seemed to have slipped away some time between the hellish fielding practise and even worse batting practise. He seemed to have sunk into himself more and more as the day went on and Chris wasn't the only one to notice.

A sense of unease rippled through the team, even as they pretended not to notice. It wasn't to be mean, but rather a self-preservation tactic. Chris didn't think any of them were strong enough to comfort someone else while trying to keep their own feelings at bay.

One good point about Seidou's team had to be their optimism -probably came with being a sportsmen; that constant need to fight and improve oneself, never any time to ever think about giving up. But that didn't mean that it never got to them. Everyone had weakness; there were just times when it showed, and times when it didn't. It just meant they're human.

Chris felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and reached in to check it. Ryosuke's name flashed up on the screen and just as he was about to check it, a loud boom startled Chris so much the phone flew out of his hands.

"What the-"

Another boom, followed by a resounding crash echoed across the courtyard.

The direction of the sounds turned him towards one of the sport's sheds. Was someone in there?

The closer he got to the door, the more he felt his feet speed up. A second and third crash resounded as he stepped a foot away from the door.

Something could have fallen.

Something might be broken.

Someone could be hurt.

Chris lunged forwards for the door without a second thought and tore the door handle aside.

What he saw inside was no accident.

Bats laid scattered across the floor, some chipped and splintered, others cracked in half. Balls were rolling carelessly in the pile of metal cages and body armour. The rusted bike that had even been left in there for god knows how long, now had both wheels had been dented and the chain snapped.

Chris's eyes moved across the damage in slow movements as he took in the destruction before moving onto what made his whole body stiffen.

Miyuki stood with his back to the door. His shoulders were squared, and lifted and fell in exaggerated jerks, his body heaving with each heavy breath. His chin was tucked into his chest, his hair falling forwards. His arms shook with force, his hands tightened into fists until his knuckles turned white, and through the cracks in his fingers, small droplets of blood dripped onto the floor.

Chris found his eyes moving to the team number sown onto Miyuki's uniform, a tear torn right through it, as if someone had tried to rip it off from over his shoulder.

"Miyuki..." Chris breathed.

Miyuki didn't respond, not even when Chris called his name a second time. His heart began to beat harder as he realised that Miyuki wasn't even aware that Chris was there.

There was something swallowing surrounding Miyuki's aura, something so unapproachable that it even made Chris hesitate.

Just as he was about to speak again, Miyuki lunged. His fist cracked against a ball cage on the wall. The latch shattered and even more balls dropped onto the floor, but Miyuki wasn't done. He spun and lashed out at a rack of metal bats fixed on the wall, pounding over and over again.

"MIYUKI!" Chris yelled, moving without thinking. His arms wrapped under the player's arms, trying to pull him back but Miyuki struggled hard and fought with all his will to break free.

Despite Chris's hold giving him the best advantage, he was struggling to hold him back. Whatever Miyuki's mind was doing right now, he was far away and his senses were even further.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice exclaimed as Yuuki and Tanba came rushing into the store room.

They took one look and acted. They each grabbed one of Miyuki's arms and dragged him from the store room before tackling him down onto the concrete. Chris let go and staggered back to his feet.

Miyuki struggled and fought, his eyes wild as Yuuki pressed all his weight down on top Miyuki's chest to keep him still. "NO!" Miyuki yelled. "LET ME GO!"

"Miyuki, snap out of it!" Yuuki yelled. Chris could hear commotion beginning to stir in the background just as Jun rounded the corner.

Chris whirled on him as Jun's eyes dropped to Miyuki and went so wide his pupils became tiny little dots.

He looked to Chris and with a startled jerk, whirled on the other juniors just as they were about the round the corner. With startling shouts, he started forcing them to head back to the field before they anyone could see anymore. Some questioned the overheard noises but Jun blew them off, practically shoving them away.

"IT'S MY FAULT!" Miyuki hissed, forcing Chris to face him as he tried to shove at Yuuki's shoulder making him grunt but otherwise unmoved. "I knew! I'm the catcher for god's sake! I saw it and I knew that ball would hit him the second it touched the bat! I knew it hit him hard and I just ignored it! I shouldn't have believed him! We're partners! We're supposed to look out for each other! And now he's...he..."

Chris could practically see the memories rushing through his mind. Chris was reminded of the tortured look on Miyuki's face when he found him inside Sawamura's hospital room despite being told not to enter. He didn't think his own expression was much better.

The lively, loud, idiotic Sawamura had been demolished into a lifeless limp body in a hospital bed. A breathing ventilator latched to his face and layers and layers of white bandages wrapped around his head. He looked fragile, helpless. Nothing like their Sawamura. Just a weak vessel of the person that was once there.

Chris retreated from the sight in Miyuki's eyes just in time to catch the exchange of glances of Yuuki and Tanba. So far as anybody else knew, no one had seen Sawamura. But at that moment, Chris believed that their lie was seen through in an instant.

The fight seemed to drain from Miyuki's body and his struggling ceased. "Dammit!" He hissed with defeat. He went limp against Yuuki and Tanba's hold, his head dropping forwards.

Yuuki and Tanba eased back but didn't move far as precaution.

Miyuki fell silent, his unfinished words hanging in the air.

Everybody had a limit. Chris of all people knew that well, and he'd just seen Miyuki hit his. All his thoughts left to stir in his brain had piled up and piled up until he just couldn't take it anymore. He'd hit the roof, and found a vent in the simplest and quickest way possible.

Anger.

But after anger, always came the guilt. Even Chris, who had been sitting in the dugout box the entire match felt a semblance of guilt. It was unnecessary. There was no way any of them knew what was going to happen, or had any way to stop it, yet the guilt was there anyway.

Miyuki had it worst of all.

Deep down, Miyuki had doubted Sawamura from the second he got back up onto the mound. From the catcher's position and those quick eyes of his, Miyuki had known the trajectory of the ball as soon as it met the bat. He'd known all along that the ball hadn't brushed him. And yet, he let Eijun have that last pitch. He'd so desperately wanted Sawamura to be okay that his mind had accepted the lie as soon as Sawamura had said it.

Chris stepped forwards, towering over Miyuki with his legs pulled into his chest and his chin tucked between his knees. "Miyuki." Chris said, waiting for his junior to look up as he extended his hand down towards him. "You can blame Sawamura when he wakes up." He said, a small smirk playing on his lips. "That idiot won't stay down for long."

Miyuki's face grew with surprise and something in his gaze resonated back into Chris before it faded into a softer expression.

The same small smile played on Miyuki's lips as he reached up and took the offered hand. "You're right." Miyuki smirked. "He has a hard head after all."

Miyuki knew as he'd taken Chris's hand what he had offered him. Not just help, but also something else. Something Miyuki found himself in short supply of.

Faith.


	4. Force Play

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 4: Force Play

 **MIYUKI**

"Come on." Chris encouraged. "I have something to show you."

Miyuki followed behind him, feeling that huge sense of gratitude ebb at his heart. He wouldn't know what he'd do without Chris-senpai. He knew he respected Chris a great deal already, but now it was paramount.

His mind drew a blank before he found himself shouting his heart out with Yuuki and Tanba pinning him to the ground. He'd just felt this building pressure growing inside him with each minute spent stuck inside his head. The worst part was that he couldn't get out. Each second he tried to fight for hope, the vicious cycle his mind wallowed in would chew it up and spit it out. And then it grew and grew until he couldn't fight it no more. It all became too much. He'd just... _snapped._

They both walked towards the indoor batting hall as Chris looked down at his phone and sighed before putting it back in his pocket. He'd picked it up somewhere outside the dormitories where he'd left it. A strange place to leave your phone, if you asked him.

"You know," Chris said, an object of both defeat and amusement in his words. "You and Kuramochi are actually quite similar."

"I doubt that." Miyuki mumbled, slightly curious as to what his phone had said to lead him to such a comment. He didn't pursue the topic as the loud boom of Jun's voice carried halfway across the campus.

"He's lucky that the dormitories are only for the baseball studen-" Miyuki commented with a wince as Jun's voice cut over the last of his words.

"I think its one of his good points." Chris said as they both reached the open doorway.

Miyuki was surprised to see every single team member still gathered in the halls. Half of them were set up in the indoor batting cages with matching pitchers, swinging and swinging the bat despite the obvious moonlight outside.

"They're still at it?" Miyuki exclaimed.

After their hellish training with Jun -though Miyuki didn't pay attention for most of it- he was surprised they still had energy left to move.

"Listen." Chris whispered, giving Miyuki a nudge in the shoulder to shut up. Yuuki and Tanba were already over by Jun talking quietly, no doubt explaining what happened, as the two catchers moved into the shadows close to the batting pens.

"Oi, do you think Sawamura will be jealous?" Shinji said with a smug grin on his face, swinging his bat at the oncoming ball. "My batting skills are going to be so legendary when he comes back that he'll be begging me to teach him my skills."

One of his friends chuckled. "I think Sawamura's already jealous that you can hit the ball."

His comment, overheard by more than just their circle, made several barks of laughter break out through the room. Even Miyuki couldn't help but chuckle at the witty comment.

"See." Chris said, catching his attention. "They haven't given up, and as their captain you can't give up either."

"Yeah." Miyuki shrugged. "I'm already beginning to feel stupid about blowing up earlier."

"No." Chris shook his head. "Blowing up was natural. Both you and Kuramochi had a lot of pressure put on you, including from yourselves. You would have snapped sooner or later. But now you have, you can focus on moving on and keeping strong for those who look to you for support."

"You're right." Miyuki sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I suppose I better go join in, then."

"Nope." Chris said. "This training is only for the ones who actually slept yesterday."

"I-"

"GRAB HIM!" Jun yelled seconds before Miyuki was tackled to the ground. Startled cries of surprise escaped him as both Jun and Yuuki wrestled him into a headlock and dragged him towards the door.

"Oi! Let go of me! Jun-senpai, Yuuki-senpai!" Miyuki's protests were useless as he was dragged on his heels in the direction of the dorm rooms.

Seconds before he lost sight of the gym, he caught all the faces of the first and second years laughing with relief on their faces. His eyes flickered to Chris only to see that knowing glint in his eyes, having planned this all along, to show the team that their Captain was okay.

Then without further ado, he was forcefully dragged back to his dorm room, actually _tied_ to his bed and locked in with all windows shut before succumbing to the exhaustion they all knew was coming.

…

 **MIYUKI**

Miyuki sat eating breakfast at the cafeteria as Kuramochi hobbled down into the seat across from him, Ryo parked firmly at his heels.

"What's up with you?" Miyuki asked, not hiding the fact he noticed the faint limp.

"Nothing." Kuramochi grumbled. He nodded his chin in the direction of Miyuki's bandaged hands. "You?"

"Nothing."

Miyuki's eyes racked up and down Kuramochi's face before catching the noticeable red binding marks around his wrist. He wasn't sure if he found relief in the fact it wasn't him alone yesterday...

Both Chris, Yuuki, Jun and a few other third years joined his table as they ate breakfast.

They couldn't say the noise levels were anywhere near the norm, however the deafening silence wasn't there either. In its place, a low mumble of voices and a faint buzz of determination hung in the air. There was still the slight tang of unease as they still waited for news of Sawamura.

Still, everyone could sense the air was just that little bit lighter than yesterday.

"I'll do one- no ten thousand swings today and that Sawamura will be super jealous." Shinji announced.

"I think we covered this yesterday." His friend chuckled.

"Yeah, well, as long as he doesn't see that magazine, we're all okay."

Kuramochi perked up. He turned in his chair to overlook the first years' table. "What magazine?"

"Ah," Jun mumbled around a mouthful of rice. "The one on Bakamura?"

"This one." Haruichi said, handing a copy over to their table. "It has an article on Eijun."

Kuramochi scanned through it in silence with a single hesitation before handing it over to Miyuki.

A large photo of Eijun giving his final pitch sat in the center of the page with the big headline: _'A true fight for victory'_ alongside a smaller photo of the baseball pitch from the game of Eijun collapsed on the mound just after the ball hit him. Kuramochi was already by his side as Miyuki stood frozen behind the batting plate.

Miyuki allowed his eyes to flicker up to the short stop whose eyes were fixed on his rice, before looking back to the magazine. Two columns of writing went on to explain events and rumors of hospital reports and a good luck to Sawamura and hopes for a full recovery.

It wasn't a surprise to find the article. There were probably many out there already after what happened at the match. It was big news. Not to mention there have been a number of reporters trying to get inside information through the team. The school ended up hiring outside security to keep them out.

"You'd best not show that to Sawamura." Shinji advised from his table. "Who knows if his head will even fit in the room if he finds out he's become some kind of public martyr."

"When he wakes up, everybody's going to want a piece of him." Haruichi added.

"I won't." Ryo quipped, causing a ripple of chuckles to break out through the room.

"Quit laughing and get eating!" Jun yelled. "You've got even more training today!"

Moans and groans moved around the room in one fell sweep.

"Yuuki-senpai, I think it'd be safer if you took over." Miyuki advised.

"Yeah." Kuramochi's face grew worried, eyeing Jun with caution across the length of the table. "I think someone's gotten power happy."

"Hey!" Jun protested. "I'm not power happy. It's just nice to feel all their lives at my command and-"

Before Jun could finish and make anybody else consider jumping out the window and making a run for it, the resounding crash of the door made silence slice through the room.

Maezono stood panting in the doorway, his eyes flickering around the room as every single person's attention fell on him. Tension turned thick in the air as everyone move to the edges of their seats. Every breath in the room seemed to stop as Maezono opened his mouth.

"Sawamura's awake."

…

 **MIYUKI**

The gurney wheels clicking down the hall. The murmurs of other visitors moving about the hospital. The shouts of doctors and nurses. The noise seemed to collaborate into a background fuzz as Miyuki and Chris made their way down towards Sawamura's room. Only the obnoxious sound of their racing footsteps passed between them until they reached the door.

Coach lounged against the door until he spotted them both almost hurtling towards him and moved to step into their path. But when Chris staggered to a stop, Miyuki darted straight passed both of them.

He heard the Coach shout, but he wasn't listening as he tore open the door and threw himself inside.

 _He's awake...Sawamura's awake..._

Over and over again the voice had been drilling through his mind and as he reached forwards to grab the curtain and froze as the horrible flash back to a few days earlier, the ventilator, the wires, the bandages raced across his mind. He pushed through it and clutched the material.

He tore the curtain back.

"EEK!" Sawamura's voice shattered the air, as he jumped almost ten feet up in surprise. He looked at where Miyuki stood frozen and down to the brown strain on the sheets he had been scraping at with his plastic spoon.

"It's not what it looks like I swear!" He said, guesting to some kind of pudding cup on the side table. "It's just chocolate pudding!" He went to reach for it, but Miyuki didn't care.

He propelled himself forwards, slamming his body into the smaller one of Sawamura's who let out another yelp as Miyuki wrapped his arms around him.

 _He was okay._

 _Sawamura was okay._

Miyuki flung himself back and stared hard at Eijun's confused expression. "YOU IDIOT!" Miyuki snapped, shaking his body for good measure. "You had everyone worried to death! Why didn't you say when you were hit with the ball! Did Chris-senpai not teach you anything!"

"Hey, I-" Sawamura went to shout back before his voice stopped dead. His eyes scanned Miyuki from head to toe, his eyebrows knitting together. He opened his mouth and Miyuki felt the world crumble around him.

"...Who are you?"


	5. Double Play

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 5: Double Play

 **MIYUKI**

"It's amnesia." The coach said.

Miyuki found himself planted back in the horrible confines of one of the hospital's plastic waiting chairs. It was the same one right outside Sawamura's room door when the Coach had spoken to him the first time, where he'd delivered the bad news. Miyuki thought that had been the worst of it. He had been wrong.

"Sawamura can't remember any of the past year." The coach continued. "He thinks he's just graduated middle school."

Chris stood at the edge of the door, his eyes staring through the open glass window, no doubt at Sawamura eating another of the many pudding cups he'd stashed under his bed. Even so, his gaze was distant, and his thoughts even further away.

"It's temporary, right?" Chris said all of a sudden.

The Coach gave his head a slow shake, adjusting the cap on his head as he faced his team's captain and retired manager. "They're not sure. There's no way to measure the extent of damage done. He might regain only some of his memories, maybe more but the doctor's say there's still a chance he might not regain any of-"

"They're doctors, for God's sake!" Miyuki snapped, slamming his hands down against the weak plastic. He threw himself up from his chair and began pacing up and across the hall before he stopped and pivoted towards his coach. "They're supposed to know!"

The coach didn't scold Miyuki, or force him to sit down. Instead, he adjusted his cap again. "The doctors think if he doesn't regain them by the end of the week, he'll probably never get them back at all."

"One week?" Chris turned from the door, eyes strained open. "That's all we get?"

Coach nodded. He turned to look back at the door. "I've spoken to Sawamura and his family. Sawamura will be coming back to the dorms until the end of the week. If there's no change after that, his parents will be picking him up and taking him home."

"How are we supposed to get him to remember?" Miyuki said, noticing that very dangerous note of doubt within his voice.

All of a sudden, the caution in the Coach's face disappeared. In its place, was determination, and he was back to being their true coach all over again. "Familiarize him, tell him stories, put him through Jun's training if you have to. I don't care what you do. But you've got one week to get him to remember. If you don't we lose our southpaw and worst of all, he'll lose his chance to play professional baseball forever." The coach turned from facing his two stunned students and made his way down the hall.

He paused mid-step and turned his shoulder to look at them once more. "I'm counting on you."

The coach moved through the halls, leaving Sawamura's only hope standing in silence, a heavy burden now bestowed upon their shoulders.

…

 **MIYUKI**

Baseball teams. They're notorious for being loud, foul-mouthed and aggressive with a total lack of awareness for personal space.

So how on earth did they all end up like a bunch of scared kittens?

From Jun all the way down to Kuramochi, they stood pinned to the opposite wall as far as way as possible as they could get from Sawamura. They eyed him with caution like he was a piece of china they risked breaking by being within ten feet of his radius. It was ridiculous.

Miyuki and Chris had both been more worried that they would be pouncing on him and scaring the living heck out of him. Not... _this._

"Um..." Sawamura said, his eyes jumping back and forth between Chris's and the team. "Are they okay?"

The cold objectivity of his tone made Miyuki frown. He had to remind himself over and over again that this Sawamura did not know them. But the fact that they all knew him so well made interactions both weird and devastating.

"They're fine." Chris said, even looking a little amused at their reaction. "We just sometimes call them the scaredy-cat team."

It was a complete contradiction to the warnings and the advanced apologies they gave him before they came into the oddly silent club room.

"Chris, you bastard!" Jun yelled, but made no attempt to come forwards.

"That's Jun. The one with the _beard_." Miyuki heard Chris's deliberate and unsubtle attempt at trying to trigger something.

"Oh." Sawamura said, the provocation going untouched.

Chris frowned before re-addressing the group. "Come over here. Sawamura's agreed to try and regain his memories and he can't do that if you're all on the other side of the room."

"So...he's okay?" Haruichi said, being the first of the bravest to come forward.

"Yeah, he-" Seconds before Chris could even answer, the door swung open with a loud _thwack_ and Furuya came strolling in.

The entire room froze. Furuya looked up at the room before he looked between Chris and Miyuki who stood open mouthed at the prone body of Sawamura sprawled out on the floor. "Oops." Furuya mumbled and carried on walking through.

"HEY!" Sawamura yelled, jumping from the floor. He stormed over to Furuya, getting in his face and yelling "You can't just hit someone with a door and say _'oops'_! Apologise, you bastard!"

Everyone watched with shock and a huge glimmer of hope at the burst of familiarity.

"Sawamura," Miyuki called, stepping forwards.

"What?" Sawamura snapped with agitation. Miyuki opened his mouth to speak when Sawamura continued with "You're team seems to be lacking some manners."

Your team... not _the_ team...not _our_ team... _Your_ team.

He didn't remember.

"Sorry." Sawamura said as he looked around the room, pausing to glare at Furuya who narrowed his eyes at Eijun. "That was rude." He added before mumbling under his breath "but not as bad as some."

"...It's fine." Chris said, stepping forwards to pat Sawamura on the shoulder. He proceeded to introduce Furuya to Sawamura who continued to glare at Furuya. Strangely, Furuya didn't glare back, or even dismiss Sawamura like usual. He just stared.

Chris kept talking until he finished when he turned over his shoulder to look at Miyuki and paused.

"Miyuki?"

Miyuki shook himself out of his daze. He looked between the faces of the crowd with depression and despair woven into each of their expressions before he looked back to Chris's face. His smile was strained- no, _pained -_ as he tried to hide his disappointment. Looking the team like that made the hole in Miyuki's chest ache, and all off a sudden the emotions in the room became stifling.

"I...I've got to go." Miyuki said, taking a step back towards the door.

Chris's eyes widened. "Miyuki?"

"The coach wanted to speak to me so..."

Chris narrowed his eyes over Miyuki's expression, not letting anything escape his notice. Miyuki thought he'd call him out right there and then. He didn't.

"Okay." was all he said, and it was the only thing Miyuki needed before turning towards the door.

He had to get the hell out of there.

…

 **CHRIS**

Chris stood looking at the door as he rethought Miyuki's escape earlier. It was true that Coach had called him for an urgent meeting in the office, but Chris wasn't stupid. He could see that that wasn't all it was. He'd seen the pressure piling up on his face ever since he'd met Sawamura all over again.

Miyuki wasn't leaving just to go to the meeting.

He was running away.

"Isashiki- senpai."

"... _Isashiki_ -senpai?" Jun's face twisted with a sour look.

Chris couldn't blame him, those two words that have never been paired together for as long as they'd known Sawamura coming out of his mouth...it was _weird._ Even the rest of the seniors and juniors looked a little estranged.

"Wow, for you to be so polite... you must have really hit your head hard." Ryo said from his perch on the mess hall table.

"I'd never be disrespectful to a senpai." The utter belief on Sawamura's face had Jun running straight back to the opposite side of the room.

"He's been possessed." Jun grumbled from behind Yuuki. "Something's eating him from the inside out! We have to help him. Yuuki!" He grabbed Yuuki by the shoulders and shook and shook and shook him while crying out desperate measures to save Sawamura from the " _thing_ " inside of him until his friend took it upon himself to slap Jun on the upside of the head.

"Don't you understand?" Shinji shouted, stood over by Hideaki. "It's a dream come true!" He turned and marched straight over to where Sawamura was still looking over at Jun with up turned eyebrows. "Bakamura!"

"Bakamura?" Sawamura puzzled as he turned towards the striding first year.

Shinji puffed out his chest, a smirk on his face and a grin so wide his cheeks must have hurt. He laid out his hand, his palm facing up and said "You owe me a thousand yen."

"Eh?" Sawamura gaped. "But I don't have any money on me?"

"I guess that just means you'll be in my debt. You will be my sla-" Hideaki stood forwards and thankfully took his turn to smack another player on the upside of the head.

Sawamura still looking confused was righted as Haruichi came over a set a hand on his shoulder. "You don't owe him anything, Sawamura." Haruichi smiled.

 _Sawamura..._ not _Eijun._

Chris noted the change in address and even in his close friends, they couldn't seem to recognise the Sawamura in front of them.

This Sawamura was polite, awed and more arrogant than Chris had ever seen him.

This person in front of them wasn't their pitcher.

Sawamura nodded, and some were expecting him to snap at Shinji like he had Furuya just by default of his personality, but Eijun just nodded and looked down at his feet.

When he rose his head again a moment later, he just grinned, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Still, I'm surprised I entered a private school." Sawamura said, his nose turning up as he looked around the room. "I didn't think I'd ever want to enter a place like this."

The comment was followed by a roar of annoyance as the team took turns shouting over each other about just how arrogant and annoying he was.

Chris couldn't help but watch from the side lines, looking at everyone with that hollow ache in his chest. No matter how much they were telling Eijun about their relationships and his memories, it didn't seem to change the way he was looking at them; like strangers.

They had six more days to change that.

Chris looked back at Eijun, and couldn't help but fear the worst.

…

 **MIYUKI**

"We had wanted to talk to Sawamura Eijun himself but-"

Miyuki stepped forwards, mouth opening to protest before the Coach rose his hand. "I already said no." He said before Miyuki could speak.

"Considering Sawamura's... _condition,"_ the right officer amended. "We thought it would be more helpful to us if we talked to you, the catcher, instead."

Miyuki nodded and took a step back into his position by the doors. He folded his arms tight around his back as if he was lined up for a game. He did it to hide the way his fingers were buried tight into the skin of his palm and looked at the two men with as much calm as he could muster.

Police. They could take of the uniforms and put on suits but you couldn't hide the way they carried themselves. High up, probably, which was the reason for the black tie attire, and the way they sat behind the table with the Coach stood to one side either meant he let them take the lead or they had the authority to take it for themselves. Either way, Miyuki couldn't help but be cautious.

"The incident involving Sawamura's accident-"

"It wasn't an accident." Miyuki interrupted, fisting the material of his sleeves into his knuckles. He braced as the ball flew into his vision again and he was taken back to that one second that changed everything, that one swing that had the purpose of hurt and one person that had delivered it.

"Yes." The right officer nodded, bringing Miyuki back to the present. "We have come to understand that fact."

Miyuki felt the need to rage at them. _Come to understand? It was as plain as day._ But he bit down on his lip, keeping quiet and waiting. So much goddamn waiting.

"We've tried to keep it out of the press for as long as we could, but tomorrow, a copy of this will be going out tomorrow." He lifted a magazine from underneath the table and set it out in front of Miyuki.

He'd stayed standing at the other side of the room, refusing the seat at first but as he inched closer, he was forced to take it as he looked down at the cover.

 _"Accident or Pre-meditated?"_

 _"The inter-high team's underdog pitcher, Sawamura Eijun, had been taken to hospital after a hazard ball had hit the player in the head. But was it really an accident? After the blow out between the team's star catcher Miyuki Kazuya and the batter from XX high school, is there more to this seemingly unfortunate event than meet the eye? – Full Article on page 12"_

Miyuki remembered his words to the player and sitting with the start of what would be the beginning of the end for that batter, and possibly his whole team, made Kazuya tremor with excitement. But it couldn't be more bitter sweet if it had tried.

"Because of these rumors, an investigation has been launched into uncovering the truth."

The way he said rumors made it seem as if it was trivial, a troublesome thing for the two officers, a waste of their time. Miyuki forced himself to stay in his seat.

Never before had he ever been so violent as he had over the course of the past two weeks, but this was serious, and Miyuki couldn't bring himself to feel guilty.

"We've spoken to the umpires of the game, including the one who was stood behind you during the game." The left one continued.

"What did they say?"

"They both have reason to believe that the ball was hit with the intent to hurt Sawamura Eijun."

A wave of relief funneled through Miyuki's chest. _He wasn't alone..._

"So far, we have received other testimonies from some of the spectators and we have received video footage and images from the media. They are being dissected by our technical team, but so far, it seems to be corresponding with the statements received."

"However," the other one continued. "we have interrogated both the batter, their coach and the rest of the team, and they are pleading innocent and have lawyered up."

"What does that mean for us?" Miyuki asked. His eyes flickered to the Coach but his face remained impassive and gave nothing away.

"From now on, the legal suit may get a bit messy; intention to harm during a game is a high class assault case and will cause a mass stir in not just the sport world but the entire country. Your coach, and the Seidou Board of Chairs have made it clear they will support the case against XX high school and aim for the removal of the Coach and playing bans to be placed on the players involved. Furthermore, there may be a settlement fee, but I've been told that this case will not be settled no matter the amount, but there will still be a substantial amount of money at the end, should the case be won."

Miyuki was stunned. The Seidou Chairmen have given full support? Miyuki hadn't heard of this. He hadn't even heard of them filing a case against the high school. The only reason any of them even thought it was cheating was the blow out between him and the batter at the game. And yet, people had began to act, and they were supporting Seidou.

He wasn't naïve enough not to expect some opposition but the media would want to get on the winning side, and Miyuki couldn't help be confident that the truth would come out.

He also considered the fact that the Chairmen could have filed the case as a way to receive the money for the school since the case would practically be won with the way the evidence was turning up in spades, but he dismissed it. If they were in it for the money, Seidou would have taken the settlement money which would no doubt be more than whatever money they'd claim at the end.

Perhaps justice did exist in the world.

"We'll need to speak to the members of your team one at a time, specifically your short-stop, Kuramochi Youichi," The left one began, pulling out a list as he scanned down the names. "Your first and third basemen, Maezono Kenta and Kanemaru Shinji. They may also be asked to give a testimony during the hearing, but that's up to them whether they consent to or not."

There was no point in asking. They would; Miyuki had no doubt about it.

"But we'd still like to have a small chat with each of your players as well as some of the retired players who were at the game as well." The right one continued.

"Can't I just answer any questions you have?" Miyuki asked.

The one of the left looked up, setting the paper down with a sympathetic smile on his face. The first real emotion Miyuki had seen from either of them. "This would be much easier if we could speak to Sawaura Eijun, however, since that's not a possibility, I'm afraid we'll have to talk to all your team." His eyes flickered down to the sheet before he gave a small smile again. "Besides, the more testimonies, the stronger our case."

"I see." Miyuki nodded, because he did see. Not to mention, if there was an investigation everyone in the team would want to be in on it, doing their share of justice for Sawamura.

"Now," The right, colder of the two, clicked his pen and steadied it over the notebook on the table. "Take us back to the game."

Miyuki told them about the trajectory of the ball, the swing, the angle and the body position, and how it was too abnormal to have been an accident. Too purposeful.

He told them what he had heard at the game, what he knew previously about the team and any scrap of suspicion he had looked over before and during the game.

They asked all sorts of questions including about his intentions when he approached the opposite team and Sawamura's condition and other minor details.

They wrote almost three pages of notes, and had a recorder with ten minutes of recording on it before it was over.

Miyuki rose to leave, ready to go tell Kuramochi to make his way over when the officer stopped him.

"One last thing," the kinder officer said. Miyuki paused at the door and turned. "Like I had said before; this is a big case and there are certain dangers when the stakes are this high."

The coach who had been quiet up until this point, shot to his feet. "We agreed not to-"

"Yes. We did." The officer replied, keeping his eyes on Miyuki. "But if they are in danger, shouldn't they have the right to know? You're safer when you're armed after all."

"But-"

"I want to know." Miyuki interrupted. He turned to look at his Coach. "If the team is being targeted, I want to know."

The Coach looked like he wanted to argue, but he absolved, lowering himself back into his chair. He had a feeling the officers would be getting yelled at the second Miyuki left the door but he didn't care. He did, though, care about his team.

"Sawamura, specifically, but a few members of your team may be approached by members of the opposite school, or perhaps a third party. We'd like you to be aware that if you spot someone suspicious or feel at any way threatened, to call us and let us know as soon as possible." The officer advised. "But so long as you stay on school grounds, with the added security provided by both the hired help from your school and from our witness protection, you should be safe."

Miyuki was quiet for a moment, letting the words play over in his head and sink in. "Thank you for telling me." Miyuki said and then turned and left for the door.

Walking down the hallway, he heard the faint blast of the Coach's voice thunder down the halls but he wasn't listening.

Danger...threatened...protection...

That heavy swirling sensation in his stomach reappeared. He wasn't sure if it was just because of the words he had heard but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

It was almost ironic. The bad thing had already happened and yet, Miyuki couldn't help but feel that it wasn't yet over.

Miyuki could only hope that whatever happened, their Sawamura would reappear at the end of the dark tunnel.

The image of him in the mess hall returned and Miyuki's thoughts and feelings on the case that he believed would be justice, dulled.

 _None of it would matter_ , he thought, _not unless their Sawamura returned_.

Miyuki couldn't be sure he would.


	6. Called Game

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 6: Called Game

 **CHRIS**

24 hours, 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds. No matter how big you make the number, it doesn't change anything.

There was 1 day left.

One day left to make Sawamura remember. The chances had been dropping every second since he woke up but tomorrow, they would fall to slim to none.

Chris couldn't help but be caught up in the impatience of the team. He was guilty of pushing Sawamura as well. They had all gone to training together, though Sawamura's was kept light due to the recent injury. And the doctor's no game bans had also limited the at-bat they were going to do to try jog his memory. They were going to redo the third years game all over again but instead, Sawamura just sat and watched as they did situation drills.

It was weird to see Sawamura in awe all over again from the third years skills; like they were being taken back to that summer all over again.

But worst of all for Chris, had been Sawamura's eyes. When Eijun used to look at his with such respect and awe, he had pretended to dismiss it, be humble about it, but just being the nice guy who kept him company in the dug out made his heart ache.

It was a little relieving to see Miyuki stuck to Sawamura like glue, but it no doubt had something to do with the fact that there was a target on his back. A victim through and through.

It was also decided that only a few of the third years as well as Kuramochi, Miyuki and Maezono were to be kept in the loop. There was at least one person with him all day and they'd set up a buddy rule that nobody go anywhere on their own.

They'd used the excuse that there were media sneaking in and ganging up on a few of the school students and most had bought it hook, line and sinker. The others who had seemed dubious didn't voice up about it, perceptive about the defensive attitudes the third years had taken.

But those things were the least of their worries. The clock felt like it was speeding up and nobody cared about their safety when Sawamura was at risk. Being the reckless idiots they were, nobody could blame them.

They dogged him everywhere, plucking at straws with the hopes that one tiny little detail will click for him. They were cautious about his injury but they still came close to the lines of pushing him, including sneaking him into the indoor training grounds to get him to pitch before Chris found them.

It was Haruichi who had argued for the cause at the door while Furuya had just gone inside and pitched on his own into the nets.

Chris wondered if that was his own attempt to help him remember. Perhaps there was some love lost between the two rivals. Every time he'd asked Furuya about it, he'd blown it off with "because I'm the ace" so Chris didn't push him to confess his true feelings. He hadn't needed to.

Chris looked down at his feet as they carried him towards the dormitories, his body aching and sweaty from his run at dawn. His mind went back to his conversation with Sawamura last night.

...

 **CHRIS**

 _Ten hours earlier..._

20:00pm. Chris looked down at the blinking digital clock on his phone as his brain did the math.

"33 hours." Sawamura spoke, catching him off guard. He sat down beside him on the bench beside the vending machine.

"Actually, it's 34." Chris corrected him as he stood and went to the vending machine. He slotted his change into the machine, pressed the two buttons and waited for the heavy clunk before reaching into the draw at the bottom.

"What if I don't get them back?"

Chris paused. His hand was wrapped around the warm can of coffee until his brain managed to become unstuck and he picked up the second one as well.

He sat back down on the bench and passed one to Sawamura. He took it for a grateful nod and held it in his lap. He didn't open it.

"Everyone here," Sawamura continued, his fingers brushing against the red label of the can. "They're so nice and really funny. All the things they said, the things I did." Sawamura looked up between the two buildings as if he could see the stars above the dark Tokyo clouds. "They're amazing. I gave perfect Shut-outs, I have a pitch barely anyone can hit. I even overcame the yips!" He turned to Chris, a grin on his face, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Even some professional baseball players retire because the yips, but I didn't."

Chris almost felt relief at the familiarity of Sawamura's expression, but before he could, he saw it fade.

A sad smile overtook Sawamura's face as he turned and looked back down at his coffee. "It all sounds so surreal, you know? Going to inter-high, being apart of this school, this team." He shrugged in gesture. "It sounds like somebody else...this "Sawamura Eijun" the goofy, arrogant idiot everyone keeps telling me about. That person...they're not _me._ And despite how much I wish for my memories to come back, they won't. They might not ever come back and yet... I don't want to disappoint them. I don't want them to hate me. "

"If you don't ever get your memories back, I think it would disappoint them." Chris said, leaning his head back against the wall. He looked up at the sky as if he might see what Eijun was looking at before. He heard skin tightening around metal and sighed. "They wouldn't hate you." He looked down and saw Eijun looking hard at his can as if he might burn a hole through it. "No matter what happens, they won't hate you."

"You say that now but tomorrow might be a different story."

Chris's spine straightened as he looked down at the crouched pitcher, his gaze heavy.

Sawamura gave a small unsurprised chuckle at his reaction. He looked up at Chris with tired eyes, seeming so much older than Chris had ever seen him.

He seemed like a different person, someone forced to mature in the past week with the responsibility we'd forced on him. Chris felt a tide of guilt swell in his chest as he realised that this Sawamura was who they had shaped him to become.

"I overheard a few of the senpais talking. Kuramochi-senpai and Ryosuke-senpai." Sawamura explained. "If I don't remember by tomorrow, I won't get my memories back ever again."

"You shouldn't have-"

"I know I shouldn't have found out!" Sawamura yelled, the can slamming into the floor. It burst and hot coffee sprayed across the concrete floor.

A dead silence rang out between them.

"Whether its you, or if its Miyuki-senpai, or Ishashiki-senpai or Yuuki-senpai or Kuramochi-senpai, or Ryonosuke-sempai or Shinji-san, or Hideaki-san or Haruichi-san or Furuya... I just... I can't bare it."

"Sawa-"

" _How is it fair!"_ Sawamura whirled, tears down his face, his hands tightened around his shirt. "How is it fair that just one hazard ball, _one!_ And the Sawamura that everybody wants, that everybody needs is gone! Tell me. How is that _fair_?"

Chris opened his mouth, wanting to reassure him, but out of everything he could have said, this wasn't what he expected.

"Why do _I_ have to replace him? _I_ 'm worthless without his memories. This is Sawamura's life and yet here I am expected to take up his massive space in everyone's hearts that he's left behind. If...If he doesn't come back then what am I supposed to do? How can I stop their pain? How can I protect them if he's not here? How? Tell me how!"

Sawamura looked down at his chest, at the heart his hands tried to clutch so hard his nails cut into his skin. "It hurts so much in here." He whispered as his eyes rose to the shell shocked Chris. "Make it go away... _please_. _Please!_ "

Chris sat still on his bench, his chest collapsing in a mass of agony and despair. Only a few words crossed his mind as he looked at the boy falling to pieces in front of him. Words that he couldn't have stopped even if he'd tried.

 _Look at what we've done..._

...

 **CHRIS**

 _Present..._

In the end, Chris couldn't say anything. There was nothing he could say to take away the pain and even as he felt as if he had beaten himself with a lamp post, the ache of his body couldn't reach his own pain raging through his chest.

He'd seen the signs. Seen the way Sawamura had pulled into himself every moment that passed. The way his body went ridged every time someone laughed or was happy. But he'd ignored them.

Chris was renowned for his perceptiveness in the team...it must have been a bunch of lies because he was just as ignorant as the rest of them.

He had set out this morning ready to tell them to lay off him but then the clock on his phone had rang and just like it had all week, his brain had done the maths.

One day.

By sunset today, Sawamura wouldn't be coming back.

It was easy; shutting out his heart like that. It was like a little switch in the back of his head that just shut off all his emotions. The pain numbed to a dull ache, and that determination to set Sawamura free of the pressure had faded.

Just one more day. It would be okay for just one more day. One more...

He no longer cared what happened tomorrow, so long as Sawamura came back to them today. They couldn't lose him, not one of their own. Not like this.

So he'd stayed quiet about yesterday, and even Kuramochi and Maezono didn't blink an eye when Sawamura returned to their dorm room yesterday and went straight to bed.

He'd give his team this one last effort; sacrificing one Sawamura's pain for another. It was almost contradictory, but Chris didn't care about the details.

Sawamura would come back.

"CHRIS-SENPAI!" A voice roared from ahead of him. He looked up from his shoes as he saw Miyuki come charging across the grounds, near slamming into him as Kuramochi and a few other members split and ran in opposite directions; desperation all across their faces.

Miyuki didn't waste a second as the words rushed out of his mouth. "Jun's heading to the field, but we think he might have gone outside the gates, and with what the officers said and Kuramochi and Ryosuke and Yuuki-senpai have gone out as well as other third years and Haruichi has gone to the Coach and the first years are searching the school and-"

"Miyuki. Stop. I don't understand what you're saying." Chris said, but it sounded distance. He put his hand on Miyuki's shoulder, feeling his chest rattling through wheezing breaths and the slickness of the sweat soaking through his jersey. "What happened?"

Miyuki took a deep breath, his eyes falling on Chris's. "Sawamura's gone missing."


	7. Squeeze Play

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 7: Squeeze Play

 **KURAMOCHI**

Time. They had become so revolved around it the second they'd entered Seidou that it shouldn't have changed that much. 1 hour running. 1 hour batting. 1 hour game play. 10 hours sleep.

But it did change.

Instead of racking up the hours, they had began counting down. Seven days...Six days...Five days...Four...Three...Two...

One.

Even with the one day left, a whole 24 hours, for the massive hurdle they had been trying to overcome the past six days, it didn't seem enough. They had failed so many times that Kuramochi couldn't beat down the feeling that it was too late. That there was no time left.

That they'd failed.

His shoulder crashed hard into a passer-by and he was thrown back a step or two. "HEY!" The guy yelled as he dabbed his shirt with a napkin where he'd split his coffee down it.

"Sorry!" Kuramochi yelled, already running. He had no time to stop for anybody and it's not like the man could have caught up with him anyway.

Desperation had the team racing against the tide of the Tokyo streets. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of white and blue as he saw Maezono race into Tokyo park as Kuramochi continued round the corner into a crowded street.

He dodged and swerved out the way as people cried out and tried to move out of his path as he hurtled through them.

His eyes leapt over everyone and everything as they tried to place Sawamura's face or hair or build or even the Seidou shirt he was wearing, but he couldn't.

His brain was working overtime and he couldn't stop the flash of this morning that was flung up in front of his eyes.

They were having breakfast, that was all. Sawamura just said he was heading to the bathroom and then...gone.

He couldn't help the sickness churn through him when he'd felt that Sawamura was taking too long. He also couldn't stop Miyuki's words coming through his head. He had confirmed it with the Coach and the officers that day but...people _targeting_ Sawamura.

When he'd gone to the toilets after him and it was empty...everything just _exploded._

Everywhere was Chaos until Yuuki started shouting orders and Miyuki had ran to find Chris-senpai. He was told to go with the other second years and search the school dorm grounds but he didn't. He was first out of that gate and the third years didn't stop him.

He pounded, feet heavy, chest heaving and legs exhausted, down the street as he turned into another side road. He ran to check out the restaurant they had once visited during their rare times out in the city on weekends that they weren't training. Sawamura's laughing face came into view and he shook it away.

He looked up and down the T-junction where Kuramochi had found himself in the alley behind the restaurant.

Left or Right? Left or right? Left or –

A flash of blue and white darted past the gap on the right and he ran for it.

There was a high chance it was just one of the other team members but he couldn't risk dismissing it, not if there was a small possibility it could have been him.

So Kuramochi ran with all his might, ignoring the faint ache of his ankle. It was a small pain in comparison to what would await him if they didn't find him first.

The light at the end of the alley shut out and before he realised it, an arm swung out in front of him.

He chocked as his windpipe crushed against the steeled arm as his legs slipped beneath him, trying to carry on without him. His hands shot to the fat, meaty arm as he was swung around and his body smashed up against the damp alley wall.

His gasped for air, smacking and clawing at the arm. It pressed harder.

"Stop it." A voice drawled. "Boss specifically said _not_ to kill him."

"Eh?" A second one rose up. "What does one kid matter?"

Kuramochi tried to think, to escape but the darkness had already started to close in around his eyes. _Shit._

"Seriously, Beef." The first man growled. "Stop."

The man loosened his grip and Kuramochi felt his neck click as air was guzzled down into his lungs. He gasped on the air as it expanded his bruised ribs against the slick brick, and the darkness began to fade.

His head still rang from where it had met the wall but at least his consciousness still hung on.

"You bastards." Kuramochi growled, struggling against the hold of the fat man's grip. He was heavy but there was muscle underneath the fat and Kuramochi knew all too well how difficult it was to escape these types of guys.

Mafia. Or more likely thugs for hire. Whoever was signing their checks must have paid good money to get their hands on the Seidou students.

Kuramochi remembered what Miyuki and the police had told them. These men were hired by that dirty cheating team and their blood money, targeting Sawamura in the hopes that the suit against them will drop. They should have thought about the consequences before they hurt him.

"Oo, look at that potty mouth." The second man oozed as his face, an older, cheap blonde-dyed scum looked at him like he was the one who needed to be put in his place. "Kids who talk like that don't live very long."

The smell of his too-strong cologne and fat guy's sweat made Kuramochi ready to heave all over them, but the way he was held in a choke lock with his knees kicked in, pressed against the wall, left him in a dire position.

"Get off me." He tried to jerk back but the fat guy just pressed tighter on his wind-pipe threatening to strangle him all over again. Kuramochi stilled; he was pissed, but no way was he stupid. When he got these guys he'd do it full force, not with a broken leg.

"Not so fast." The first guy, the one in charge with the slick black greasy hair and lanky build leant up against the wall on his other side. He lit up a cigarette and puffed out a grey cloud. "We've got something we'd like to talk to you about."

"Like I'd say anything to you." Kuramochi growled.

"You'll talk." He shrugged, taking another drag. He let his eyes slide to the opening of the alley. "You know, we had spent the last few days trying to find a way into your school, but it might as well be Fort Knox. Then what do you know? A whole storm of you kids came running out." He smirked and Kuramochi felt his heart sink. "We've got a whole selection of you to pick from. You were just the first one we found. Wonder who the second'll be?"

"Don't you dare touch them!"

"There's three of us and just one of you. What you gonna do?" The second teased, but he had no idea what that information had shouted out.

" _Just_ the three of you?"

"And _just_ one of you."

That was all the confirmation Kuramochi needed.

...

 **RYOSUKE**

Ryo had his phone gripped tight in his hands as he came hurtling down the busy street, the sound of that phone call crisp in his ear.

 _Youichi, that idiot._

Ryo was small and managed to duck under the elbows and around the shoulders as people were still grumbling things like "another one!" and "it's those students!" annoyed at the reckless blue and white baseball students rampaging throughout the city like bulls in a china shop. But Ryo didn't listen and didn't stop when some got a hold of him, he just held onto his phone tight and ran.

He saw the restaurant at the end of the street and when he reached it, rounded into the alley way behind it and-

He skidded to a stop.

He looked down at the limp figures on the floor, moaning and groaning as Kuramochi's foot came over a cigarette and crushed it into the ground. He twisted and screwed his foot down on it until he was sure it was dust, then stopped.

He was silent, his head hanging as he waited for Kuramochi to notice him.

Ryo lifted up his phone and flipped it open, dialing in the numbers.

"Who are you calling?" Kuramochi asked, his voice soft and hoarse.

"Police." Ryo said, lifting his phone to his ear. "Yes, officer," he answered, his voice changing in an instant. "I just saw these three men attack this high school student!" He paused. "Oh no, they look like yakuza! What should I do?" He paused again. "Wait here? Okay, I'll wait. Please come soon!"

He flipped the phone closed and looked down on it with that cool mask he had crafted for himself over the years. After a moment, he looked up at Kuramochi, scanning the bruising beginning to colour against the skin of his neck and face.

"Sorry, Ryo." Kuramochi whispered.

"No." Ryo said, taking a step towards him. He heard a shuffle and looked down to see the man Kuramochi had let go reach his hand out to a phone discarded beside him.

He let out a cry as Ryo's foot came down hard enough on the man's fingers that if you listened hard enough, you could hear the faint cracking sounds. His expression didn't change as he carried on walking through the bodies until he stood in front of Kuramochi. "It's fine."

A second later, the faint sounds of sirens echoed through the street buzz.

"Come on." Ryo said, already walking out the alley. "We're leaving."

"But what about-"

Ryo shook his head, gesturing up to the sky. "It's already sunset."

Kuramochi nodded, as a heavy silence cast over them and followed behind him without even a second glance back at the men on the floor.

It was over.


	8. Strike Zone

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 8: Strike Zone

 **MIYUKI**

Miyuki's phone clicked shut as he headed towards the gate.

 _So long as you stay on school grounds..._ Miyuki heard the words repeating themselves over and over again as he looked up to see sunlight beginning to draw itself in. Shadows poured over the pitch as Miyuki's feet hurried to the gate.

It can't be too late. It can't be.

 _"There's no sign of him."_ Chris's voice through the phone came back to him _. "Everyone's heading back."_

The resignation in his voice made Miyuki feel cold.

He wanted Sawamura's memories to come back like the rest of them, but there was a part of him that was desperate to get him back no matter who it was they found; Sawamura now, or Sawamura a week ago. That was the same part of him that had accepted the fact he might never come back, the part of him that had vowed to protect him no matter what. Yet he knew a piece of him would break the second the sun disappeared behind that horizon, but he couldn't bring himself to think about that now.

Miyuki's foot slammed hard on the ground and a chill raced up his leg.

He looked down at the shadows wrapped around his ankles.

 _No. It can't be-_

Miyuki spun to the sky and saw the sun beginning to kiss the horizon. "Sunset..." Miyuki gasped.

 _No!_

 _No. No. No. It can't be sunset yet! It's too soon._

 _No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. N-_

His phone began to ring but Miyuki couldn't move. Chris-senpai's name was flashed across the screen but he couldn't see it. Only his eyes were fixed on the sun setting over the wide training field.

The training field...

He looked down and it was like being back at that summer over a year ago. He could see the image of Sawamura stood on the mound, looking down at the ground as he cut through the orange rays, his small frame and brown hair and eyes and...

Wait.

They were only training in the summer...Sawamura wasn't even stood on the mound so-

Miyuki's feet were already moving.

He came crashing down the bank and slammed into the gate, not wasting time slowing down as he threw it open and raced across the grass and dirt and the stones. The shadows clawed at his feet as Miyuki found himself racing against time. Sawamura's figure grew as Miyuki came closer and closer and closer until he was only a few meters away.

In that moment, he had forgotten. He had forgotten that Sawamura had his accident. Forgotten that it was sunset. Forgotten that Sawamura couldn't remember him. His hand was reached out, ready to grab him and beat him senseless for worrying him.

But life was cruel. It let you forget for a moment, but in that last second...

You remembered.

"I'm not Sawamura."

Miyuki's hand stopped, standing frozen at the bottom of the mound.

Sawamura looked up to horizon as the sun washed away from his face and disappeared beneath the horizon.

"And now I never will be."

...

 **SAWAMURA**

Sawamura's eyes filled with liquid pain and heartbreak as he turned to look down at the man standing at the bottom of his mound.

As he looked down on him, a part of him hated him, hated the team he'd met over the last week. _They didn't try hard enough...They didn't make him remember...They failed him._ The thoughts plagued him like a virus, spiraling down into the darkest parts of him.

But then there was the other half. The part of him that hated himself. _You stole this body...You stole this life...you're the one who took Sawamura away from them._

 _It's not like I wanted it._ He was thrown into this life and after this week, the Sawamura they'd came to know and the him now are like night and day. They are- _were_ – two different people. And he hated it.

"It can't be over..."

Sawamura looked down at the catcher and saw the one thing he had dreaded. The heartbreak. Sawamura had never imagined it could be a visible thing; but the shattering he could see through Miyuki's eyes was worse than he ever thought it would be.

Miyuki staggered back a step, his hand clutching tight around the phone buzzing violently in his fist.

Hope flickered behind his glasses, like the last embers of the flame refusing to go out. "They said the chances were slim, but that doesn't mean it's zero, there might-"

"He's gone." He said; it was his duty to put out those flames. He would not allow them to set themselves up to fall. "The Sawamura you know is gone."

Miyuki looked distraught to say the least but the fight inside his eyes was intense as the shock struggled to shut him down, to shut out the emotions the body wouldn't be able to cope with. But what did the body know? All it did was forget things, and in doing so...delete lives and destroy others'.

The phone buzzed more and more and it was if was growing louder. Sawamura's eyes drifted to it. "You should answer it. Let them know."

Miyuki looked down at his hand, having forgot the object and now staring at it as if it was alien. "But-"

"I want to be alone." He added.

The shock had absorbed into Miyuki's brain enough to make him susceptible to instant orders. Anything that could take over and show direction in the face of emotional chaos. Miyuki nodded and began walking with calm, paced steps towards the gate as he brought the phone up to his chest, looking down at it as the slow thoughts processed.

He was half-way across the field when he finally answered it.

Sawamura looked down at the hand hidden at his side. In the faint light of dusk, he could read out the words marked in black ink into the brown leather glove.

' _Sawamura Eijun'_

It was almost ironic. The 'Sawamura Eijun' that had written his name into the glove and polished it and worn it through was gone and yet he hadn't been able to let go of this thing the entire day. He could feel the faint scuff marks and the way the inside had fit with an eerie perfection to the shape of his palm and fingers. The way it molded around the callouses he couldn't remember having and the minor scars and the natural way his body positioned itself on this pile of dirt.

The body that is not his.

The body that will never be his.

An anger that struck so deep burst out of him as he threw the glove to the floor and struck out his foot at the nearest box. A roar exploded from somewhere deep within him and it seemed to take everything that was inside of him out of his body.

His knees collapsed to the floor and grief and guilt and gravity mixed around inside of him and made it hard to breath. He dropped a hand to the floor to steady himself but it slipped beneath him.

His body crashed hard into the dirt, dust and mud sucked into his mouth. He had no doubt a bruise would bloom nicely on his jaw as he rolled with a groan to look at the perpetrator.

He looked down at the white, red-laced ball laid in the dirt.

His mind seemed to go silent as he found his hand reaching for it. His fingers fitted perfectly around it and his fingers fell into a groove around the ball.

His eyes were looking at it with confusion as his body moved on its own.

He rose, standing back on the mound, his body facing the west, his foot facing north at the batters plate. His knee rose, his elbow falling back. A silent tranquility draped over him. His hand buried in his glove as his face looked up and faced the block.

A batter stood there, he was large and broad and the last one. _He had hit my cross-fire and my outside pitch. There was only one pitch left._

Miyuki crouched behind the batter's plate and grinned. _Fastball. Inside._

The ghosting rumble of the crowd echoed in his ears.

 _Miyuki didn't get confident_. He didn't?

 _He didn't._

The pitcher began to smile, and so did he. Every muscle in his body relaxed... and for just a moment he felt like he was at peace.

 _One more strike._

One more strike.

Silence surrounded him again as time seemed to slow. His body moved on its own, unwrapping like a coiled spring, his foot slamming into the familiar ground of the mound, his arms snapping like a whip, and his fingertips gazed the ball.

The ball hit the board behind the batters plate and dropped to the floor with a resounding thump.

 _Strike. Batter out._

"Goodbye, Sawamura Eijun."

Then everything went dark.

 _..._


	9. Safe

One More Strike: We Will Not Forget  
Chapter 9: Safe

 **MIYUKI**

Miyuki couldn't help but feel the irony as he sat in the blue plastic chair with his elbows propped up on his knees. Chris stood in silence, a stone darkness on his face that stared at the door even though he couldn't see anything inside.

He had been like that ever since that moment Sawamura has gone missing and the darkness had yet to recede of his face. He was feeling guilty about something, but then again, so was everyone.

But here they were, almost a week and a half on, two days after the ambulance had rushed Sawamura back into the hospital after he'd collapsed in fits of pain and agony on the mound. Now they were waiting.

Always waiting.

Miyuki pushed the memory down, remembering how it felt to have his entire world shattering as the shock wore off. The pain of accepting that the old Sawamura wasn't coming back and the pain of reliving the moment that started it all had merged into one agony that he had fought tooth and nail through to make that call to the ambulance operator.

After everything, Miyuki figured he'd be used to it by now, but every time the memories came back, it hurt the same as it had the moment it first happened.

"MIYUKI!"

The voice snapped him from his thoughts.

Miyuki barely had time to look up as Kuramochi's fists buried into the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. "You were supposed to be looking after him! Why the hell is he back here again?"

"Kuramochi!" Chris reached and grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him back. "The coach didn't let you come to beat the crap out of Miyuki."

"I don't care!" Kuramochi yelled, still struggling against Chris' hold to lunge for him. Miyuki slumped down into his chair, his hair shadowing his face.

"I do!" Chris yelled, louder than he'd ever heard him. He grabbed Kuramochi and shoved him back. "If you're going to blame anybody for this, blame me!"

Kuramochi slowed, his eyebrows knotting together as he looked at his senpai. "Chris-senpai..."

Chris had said everything that had happened the night before Sawamura disappeared. None of them had wanted to believed that they had been so arrogant in ignoring his feelings but a part of each of them needed to hear it.

Miyuki looked up at their short stop, the darkening bruises on his jaw, neck and arms, and the scabs covering his knuckles. Kuramochi had also said what had happened after the two officers had turned up on their doorstep after an anonymous call had been put in about three hired thugs having been paid to threaten the Seidou students. They filed assault charges against Kuramochi but the case was dropped, though both him and Ryosuke would be added to the list for testimonies at the hearing in two weeks.

Apparently Jun and Yuuki had been approached by the Coach of XX high school and he had found himself in a similar condition when the police hauled him along with money and paper trails linking him to the thugs.

Everyone was tense.

So he didn't mind when Kuramochi sunk into the chair next to him and tilted his hair against the back of the wall. "This again..." He grumbled.

More waiting.

...

 **MIYUKI**

 _Two weeks later..._

They had won the hearing and XX High's Coach had been fired and banned from teaching alongside baseball bans for ten years on the players involved. There was also a hefty sum of reparations for the Seidou board of Chairs and five-year prison sentences for the thugs.

The media had also been a hassle both at the hospital and the school after Sawamura's condition had been leaked to the press and a whole scandal broke out with bad media for XX high school and a nation-wide support campaign for Sawamura's recovery and prospects on his outcome and future.

The _"We will not forget"_ campaign appeared at school, and was even adopted by the sport's media following their story. Their slogan became " _Even if Sawamura Eijun forgets, we will not forget him."_ The school had benefited from it and so they had allowed it at first but as the story spread, it seemed to have blown up more than anyone had expected. Even when several of the players they'd met during inter-high had turned up, and even a few sports stars, nobody could quite believe how it had turned out. The sporting nation was moved by the story.

 _Not that it mattered._

Miyuki couldn't help the words. Even if a whole nation gave their support, there was nothing they could do. Not even the specialist doctors that had visited could find anything wrong with him.

At first they thought the shock had sent his brain into a coma-like state. But in the weeks after that, he had been falling deeper and deeper into one and now, there was no one who could be sure when or even _if_ he'd ever wake up.

Miyuki sat in his chair outside the room like always. Sometimes Kuramochi would go in there or Miyuki or Haruichi and Jun and Yuuki and the other team members that visited, but not him. Miyuki never went inside.

The nurses had offered to swap his chair with one of the softer ones from the staff room but Miyuki refused. In the end, they only managed to place one on the opposite side of the wall beneath the window, thinking _he_ might use it.

Chris leaned against the wall, his back propped up against the white paint, the wind blowing the cooling air into the hall. He stood beside the comfy chair but ignored it as he looked through the glass window in silence.

Chris hadn't gone into his room either.

Some of them had guessed it was because of the day that Miyuki had broken into his room and Chris had followed him. They never corrected them. They might have been right, but neither of them knew.

They just couldn't enter.

So they waited instead.

An hour a day when they were allowed, they'd visit.

Sawamura's parents were there for the longest during the day, accommodating nearby in some hotel and staying with their son whenever they could. Miyuki had even met some of Sawamura's childhood friends and the girl Kuramochi always moaned about.

She was the only one who didn't cry. All the boys had cried at the sight of him, she just stood back and looked, as if she didn't recognise him. After only a few minutes, she had come and sat beside Miyuki in silence until it was time for them to leave.

"What will you do?" Chris said, drawing Miyuki from his thoughts. He looked up at his senpai.

The third years had gone back to being retired, and the team had gone back to relying on two pitchers instead of three. Hideaki had even stepped up to training to pitch as back up, but the reality was that he was had grown too good as a center fielder to ever risk changing him. Miyuki had gone back to being Captain, and they had started training for inter-high again.

"What do you mean?"

"If Sawamura never wakes up."

"Our Sawamura isn't in their any longer. It's up to him what he wants to do, but like the coach said. It's unlikely he'll ever be able to really play again. Not with the way we've changed him."

"I'm not talking about him." Chris amended. "I was asking you what you'd do."

"I-"

A sudden crash startled the both of them. Alarms and beeping shot through the hallways and Chris was moving before Miyuki could even think.

Chris ran for the sound, not hesitating for a second as his hand slid into the door handle and threw it open. He disappeared through the doorway with Miyuki on his heels, the alarms blaring as the sounds of nurses feet echoed down the length of the hallway.

Chris ran up to the curtain and tore it open and-

Stopped.

"He's awake!" A nurse exclaimed behind them. "Get the doctor!"

Brown blinking eyes looked dreary and half-asleep as he looked to them. His eyes registered half of them before more nurses piled into the room and began trying to drag the boys out of it. They were rooted to the spot, watching Sawamura's face grow with alertness before a huge male nurse appeared and managed to move the pair of them.

Miyuki was staring over his shoulder, his ears deaf to the world around them as Sawamura's lips began to move. He read each syllable off his lips and his heart began to pound.

 _No...it couldn't be..._

...

 **MIYUKI**

 _Four hours later..._

Chris lead them into the room after the nurses had finished with things and the Coach had been called. He stood behind the two of them as they slipped into the private room.

Miyuki had to consciously move one foot and then the other, the scene a few hours earlier stuck on loop in his head. It was a trick of his eye. An illusion. It wasn't real.

Miyuki looked up as he knocked into Chris's back and they both turned to see Sawamura sat up in the bed, a chocolate pudding spoon in his mouth. The tubes and wires that had been linked up to him were gone, and there was no bandages since there was no injuries this time, he was just... _Sawamura._

"How are you feeling, Sawamura?" Coach asked.

Sawamura took the spoon out his mouth slowly, looking the two of them up and down before looking over to the coach. "Um, fine, I guess?"

"That's good." Chris sighed.

"By the way, what happened?"

"You collapsed on the mound." Miyuki answered, his feet slowly creeping round the edge of the bed.

"Eh? I did?" Sawamura stood open-mouthed in surprise as he looked down into his pudding cup, as if it might hold the answers to his problem.

Miyuki's eyes washed over him and the relaxed but confused look on the boy's face just made his body fill with relief.

"At least you're okay." Miyuki sighed, reaching up and rustling his hair.

Sawamura's eyes opened wide as he darted to the other side of the bed, and out of Miyuki's reach.

"What?" Miyuki jumped at his startled reaching.

"Why are being so nice?" Sawamura shivered. "It's creepy."

"I-"

Before Miyuki could answer, Sawamura turned to face Chris. "By the way, what happened to the game? Did we win?"

"Game, what are you-" Chris stopped, his face paling.

 _It wasn't an illusion._

 _It wasn't a trick of the eye._

Miyuki's mind jerked back to the moment four hours ago. To the name mimed on Sawamura's lips.

"Miyu...ki...?"

 _Not Miyuki-senpai._

"You remember." Miyuki breathed.

"Remember what?" Sawamura grumbled. "Stop being weird!"

"You remember!" Miyuki yelled. His body moved on its own, grabbing Sawamura by the shoulders and wrapping his arms tight around him. "You idiot!"

"Wha- What's going on?" Sawamura yelled as he tried to pull away but as Miyuki's grip tightened, he stilled in his arms and went quiet.

Or at least he thought he had.

"Miyuki...you didn't do anything to me while I was sleeping, did you?" A pause. " _Oh My God!_ You did! Miyuki, you perver-"

"Shut up, Bakamura!" Miyuki snapped.

A laugh burst out from the back of the room, and they turned to see the whole team crammed into the tiny room, tears in their eyes and grins on their lips.

"Wait...what's going on here?" Sawamura exclaimed.

They all took a step forward and Sawamura's eyes widened. "Wait! STOP! NOO!"

"GET HIM!"

...

 **SAWAMURA**

 _Two weeks and one expensive hospital damage bill later..._

"SAWAMURA!" Miyuki yelled from on top of the path. "HURRY UP!"

"GIVE ME A MINUTE!" Sawamura snapped back. "I'M LOOKING FOR MY GLOVE!"

Sawamura crossed the field, mumbling under his breath as he crossed over onto the training field the team had refused to go onto the past two weeks and to his abandoned glove across the other side of it.

A basket of balls was scattered over the mound and he found his glove laid beside it. He picked it up and patted away the dirt and checked for any weather damage but didn't find any. He slipped his hand inside it and grinned at the way his hand fit perfectly into the molded shape inside.

He began picking up the balls one by one and putting them into the crate until there was just one left.

He couldn't help himself.

He stood on the mound and fitted the ball into the grooves of his fingers. He placed his foot on the mound and found where some dirt had been disturbed and unbalanced his footing.

 _"You collapsed on the training field."_

Miyuki had also been told about what had happened this last month, but not why Kuramochi and Jun-senpai were covered in bruises, nor why Furuya was ignoring him, nor the reason a guy at school had done _seiza_ and apologised for saying disrespectful things, nor why the sports shed had been wrecked.

He never did remember anything that had happened during his week with amnesia, but every time everybody spoke about him, they talked as if he was a completely different person; especially Chris and Miyuki.

But that didn't matter to him anymore. He was back, and he was ready to pitch. He had a whole month to make up for and apparently everyone had so insensitively used his injury to get ahead on him in training. How cruel!

A sense of defeat triggered the competitor inside him and it swelled into his lungs. His body wound tight into a coil as he lifted his knee and brought his elbow back, and lunged, his foot slamming on the floor, his arms like a whip as he flew over his shoulder and his fingers about to let go of the ball with a thundering roar. "I WON'T LOSE!"

Just as the ball went to release out of his fingers tips, he stopped.

His eyes locked onto the floor beneath the square and the round dot beneath it.

 _A ball?_

His body caught up with the delayed momentum and he fell, crashing face-first into the ground. His jaw ached twice as hard as it should have as he moved the ball out from underneath it. One should not try stopping in the middle of pitching.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BAKAMURA?" Miyuki yelled across the field. "GET THOSE BALLS AND HURRY UP!"

"SHUT UP!" Sawamura returned, grumbling under his breath some more, involving names that won't be mentioned for safety reason.

He picked himself up and dusted off the dust, throwing the ball he held into the basket as he made his way over to the batters plate and carried on past it to where the baseball laid abandoned in the dirt. He crouched and leaned down.

His fingers wrapped around the ball and a jolt of energy leapt up his arm. "Ouch, what was-"

 _The pain, the emptiness, the guilt, it was all too much. Who were these people? Who were they? Why were they looking at me like I was someone else. I was trapped, in pain, but they couldn't understand. I wanted to hate them but...the smiles...the hope...the love. I wanted to protect them. Protect those around me but I couldn't. I shattered their hearts. I hurt them._

 _"This isn't my body...I'm not the person you want...Why are you still so kind...I want to protect you...Why must I hurt you?... This body is not mine...I do not belong here...what's is this feeling...who are you?...Oh, you're him, aren't you?...you came back...I think this belongs to you...Thank you for letting me meet them...Don't worry about me, I'll be okay...Go back to them...Do what I couldn't do...You are loved...cherish it...cherish them."_

Wet drops fell against Eijun's hand, as his whole body wracked with tremors. He lifted the ball up from the ground, his grip tightening around it.

"I will." Sawamura whispered, pressing the ball into his chest, hoping to ease the cavern of hope and pain and despair rising up inside of him. "I'll look after them. I promise."

"WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?"

"I'M COMING!"

Sawamura stood and made his way over to the box and paused for a moment, doing one last thing before he lifted it, and turned to walk towards the friend waiting for him.

A gust of wind rustled through the trees and as it passed him, he couldn't help but feel as if he heard it whispering to him.

He smiled.

"Jeez, what took so long?" Miyuki sighed, taking the box off him without a word and began walking down the stretch of the path.

"So, Miyuki, you can't live without me, huh?"

"Live without you? What?" Miyuki choked. "Who said that?"

"Why else would you start crying when I said I didn't remember you? Did it break you heart, huh? Did it?"

"You _do_ remember, you bastard!"

Sawamura laughed and couldn't help the smile hurting his cheeks as he ran to catch up with his friend as they walked back to the place where the people who cared about him the most were waiting for him.

Miyuki made some offhanded insult, but Sawamura wasn't listening. He was looking back over the warm setting sun warming the burnt orange field and down at the pitchers mound where a single shadow stretched from the white ball laid on the peak. His hair rustled in the breeze.

 _"...Goodbye, Sawamura Eijun."_

"Goodbye."

...

 **THE END**


End file.
